All-Star Making A Big Move?

[mom2two]

My oldest cp (13) is taking the season off to work on tumbling.. She is working fulls and other level 5 skills currently. We are from a very small gym that offers up to level 4.2. She is convinced that the move to a bigger gym an hour away would be smarter. I personally think that with coordination we could make it work as we feel that it would be unfair to have her on level 4.2 when she is working on fulls.... There is one gym within an hour or so of us that boasts world champion titles. Parents who drive/carpool to a bigger gym an hour or more away, how do you make it work? It is it worth it? Thank you.

 

[DropAndRun]

This topic is discussed almost daily here. Yes, lots of people do it and it's definitely not for everyone. The best way to tell is to try it. Drive up and take some tumbling classes or privates. It'll give you a chance to judge whether or not it's a good fit commuting wise and give you a feel for the gym in person.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Threads about switching gyms:

Gym Switching - Advice And Opinions | Fierce Board - The Voice Of Cheer

Wanting To Switch Gyms | Fierce Board - The Voice Of Cheer

Changing Programs: Is It Worth It? | Fierce Board - The Voice Of Cheer

Switching Gyms? | Fierce Board - The Voice Of Cheer

What To Look For When Choosing A Gym? | Fierce Board - The Voice Of Cheer

When Is It Time... | Fierce Board - The Voice Of Cheer

....and that's just some of them.

 

[Lazydaisytoo]

This topic is discussed almost daily here. Yes, lots of people do it and it's definitely not for everyone. The best way to tell is to try it. Drive up and take some tumbling classes or privates. It'll give you a chance to judge whether or not it's a good fit commuting wise and give you a feel for the gym in person.

This. We made the drive to the prospective gym several times well before tryouts. I'm in a different spot, though, because my daughter is 16 and will have her driver's license in October. She has been driving to/from practice for most of the summer, so by the time she's legal, she'll be ready.

I do think a larger gym has a lot to offer as far as level appropriate teams. In our case, we stepped down a level from what CP had been competing the last two years. She did not have level tumbling, and she wasn't getting the instruction she needed to get there. The larger gym draws a more talented pool of athletes, and they didn't need her on the higher level team as the old gym did. The new gym is also helping CP fix some technique errors that were never addressed at the old gym because they didn't need her to tumble.

It probably isn't too late to get on a team at a new gym. Taking a whole season off may not be the best for her as a cheerleader. While she's tumbling, her stunting skills may suffer. Perhaps see if the potential new gym offers a summer camp, and go from there?

 

[retiredl5cheer]

A few thoughts...
1. Taking a season off to concentrate on tumbling rarely ever accomplishes what one may intend. There is so much more to cheerleading than tumbling, so neglecting the 3 other major parts of the score sheet (stunting, dancing, jumping) isn't always wise. Additionally, the work out that an athlete gets in a tumbling class is very different from the one that an athlete gets during practices over the course of a season. Unless your daughter is very dedicated to training hard outside of tumbling classes, she may find that she's far from cheer shape when she returns.
2. "Working fulls and other level 5 skills" rarely constitutes a level 5 athlete at a large gym with a strong Worlds program. Large gyms have much larger pools of athletes, so they can afford to chose the top 20, 30 or 36 athletes to place on their Worlds teams. Those athletes almost always have advanced level 5 tumbling, jumping, stunting and dancing skills. Just consider that when deciding whether a switch is best for your daughter.

You may want to go into a gym switch expecting to be on a level 3 or 4 team. If it's still a move the two of you want to make in those circumstances, then maybe it is the right choice for you.